Gospel-Centered Worship
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Introduction
Introduction
Welcome to Calvary Chapel La Mesa
We’re halfway through the book
No idea what’s next
Throughout the centuries efforts have been made to bring Christianity into alignment with other world religions
If only Christianity would get onboard with others and accept works based salvation then we could all get along
We’ve come to an abrupt turning point in Paul’s letter to the Philippians
On the surface the passage from 3:2-4:1 doesn’t seem to fit
Has given rise to the idea that some later scribe compiled two letters together into one
What we’re going to find though is that this passage fits perfectly within the overall argument that Paul has been seeking to make
Paul has presented several dichotomies that present different sides of an issue
the preachers preaching out of love vs. those preaching from envy and strife
performing acts from selfish ambition vs. counting others more significant than ourselves
grumbling or complaining vs. shining our light in the world
Now we come to tonight’s portion of Scripture
Read
Pray
Rejoice!
Rejoice!
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This section of Scripture is often pointed to by people who say you cannot trust a pastor when they say “finally” and are seeming to wrap it up - because Paul goes on for another two full chapters.
This section of Scripture is often pointed to by people who say you cannot trust a pastor when they say “finally” and are seeming to wrap it up - because Paul goes on for another two full chapters.
This would probably be better translated furthermore or now then rather than finally.
Paul returns to the imperative - commanding the Philippians to rejoice but he adds to this command “in the Lord”
He not only tells us what to do but how we should do it
He also returns to theme that has undergirded much of his writings to the Philippians - joy
He exhorts them to rejoice in any circumstance
He rejoices in the preaching of Christ - whether by pretense or by truth
What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice.
Yes, and I will rejoice,
He tells the Philippians to rejoice in the suffering they will endure for the sake of Christ
For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake, engaged in the same conflict that you saw I had and now hear that I still have.
Philippians 1:
Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds,
So it is no problem for him to write this encouragement to them again
So it is no problem for him to write this encouragement to them again
Maybe you’re tired of hearing us say the same things over again - but we can never be reminded enough how important the Gospel is or how valuable Christ is
This characteristic of joy is not the same as happiness.
Happiness is an emotional state that can ebb and flow
Joy is a characteristic of life - regardless of circumstances one can still have joy because of the confidence in the source of joy
Authentic joy comes from having a relationship with God through Jesus Christ. ~ Dr. Steve Lawson
There are several reasons why Paul chooses to address the Philippians in this way
Since Philippi straddled the Egnatian Way, the east-west turnpike through Macedonia, this church was always in danger of the Judaizers’ showing up with their subversive teaching
Beware!
Beware!
Gordon D. Fee, Philippians, vol. 11, The IVP New Testament Commentary Series (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1999), 132.
The ever-present danger of false teachers always abounded and so Paul takes this opportunity to warn them
Paul warned the elders of the Ephesian church even before his arrest:
Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood. I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock;
Acts 20:
The entire epistle of Galatians was written as a polemic against these same false teachers
Beware!
Beware!
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This verse seems very discordant to our ears
Up until this point Paul has been urging the Philippians (and by extension us) to unity
It seems Paul hasn’t gone to the modern school of ecumenism and tolerance which says that we should never call anyone out
The Judaizers were using Christ’s name - but they were insistent on adding to it the Jewish regulations outlined in the Torah
This is a perversion of the Gospel that Paul had already dealt with in the letter to the Galatians
But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed.
Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?
Galatians 3:
Paul is following the model of Jesus in calling out false teachers
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people’s bones and all uncleanness. So you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.
Here he takes a warning tone that tells the Philippians to watch out
This verse should not be taken to mean that the Judaizers that had plagued places like Galatia and Corinth had arrived in Philippi
The word used for “look out” is carries with it the sense of looking out for future danger and being prepared to respond appropriately.
Here in Philippians Paul takes the Judaizers’ greatest source of pride and interprets it as the surest sign that they have no share among God’s people
Dogs
Moisés Silva, Philippians, 2nd ed., Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2005), 148.
Dogs
This is shocking!
Dogs was the way that the Jews referred to the Gentile people
For dogs encompass me;
a company of evildoers encircles me;
they have pierced my hands and feet—
Psalm 22:
“Do not give dogs what is holy, and do not throw your pearls before pigs, lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you.
Jesus referred to the Syrophenician woman this way
And behold, a Canaanite woman from that region came out and was crying, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David; my daughter is severely oppressed by a demon.” But he did not answer her a word. And his disciples came and begged him, saying, “Send her away, for she is crying out after us.” He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” But she came and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, help me.” And he answered, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” She said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.”
Matthew 15:22-
here Paul turns it around and warns the Philippians to watch out for dogs
There is no greater insult for the Judaizers
Evil Workers
We have mischaracterized legalism in the American church
We will call anything legalism.
You have to wear a suit to church - that’s legalism we protest
You shouldn’t smoke - that’s legalism we protest
You can’t tell anyone they’re wrong - that’s legalism
This is true legalism - anything that robs the Gospel of it’s saving power by adding something else that must be done to be or remain saved.
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
Sola Fide and Sola Gratia were two of the key tenets fought for by the Reformers
By adding the practice of circumcision and requiring the observance of the Jewish Laws the Judaizers were in becoming workers of iniquity.
Yet there are many preachers who think they are teaching the correct Gospel and yet will tragically find out they were wrong
On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’
Matthew
For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ.
2 Corinthians 11:13
Mutilation
Circumcision carried out to earn one’s salvation is useless - nothing more than an empty ritual
Ritualism is nothing more than a rut and the only difference between a rut and a grave is the length and the depth. ~ Pastor Chuck Smith
Paul is saying that it is even really just a mutilation
Paul is saying that it is even really just a mutilation
In he goes even further than he does here
I wish those who unsettle you would emasculate themselves!
Worship!
Worship!
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We are the circumcision
Conclusion
Conclusion
This sign was so highly valued by the Jews that they called themselves the circumcision.
Paul takest this phrase and applies it to the Gentiles emphasizing the internal nature of the circumcision of the heart that takes place in Christ
G. Walter Hansen, The Letter to the Philippians, The Pillar New Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI; Nottingham, England: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2009), 220.
Paul takest this phrase and applies it to the Gentiles emphasizing the internal nature of the circumcision of the heart that takes place in Christ
Worship by the Spirit of God
Worship by the Spirit of God
No church will ever rise above it’s worship of God.
Many in America worship a small God
It is interesting that men will yell and scream and go crazy over a touchdown in football but put them in a church service and they wont open their mouths to sing and worship their Creator
For from the rising of the sun to its setting my name will be great among the nations, and in every place incense will be offered to my name, and a pure offering. For my name will be great among the nations, says the Lord of hosts.
Malachi 1
And if we will not do it the very creation will ring out with praise for its creator
Jesus speaking with the woman at the well gave the best definition of what true worship is:
But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him.
John 4:
But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you do not know about.”
True worship is found in those who sacrifice themselves, having their minds renewed by the Spirit, desiring to glorify Him above all things.
The essence of worship is living a life of obedient service to God. ~ Dr. John MacArthur
Glory in Christ Jesus
John F. MacArthur Jr., Philippians, MacArthur New Testament Commentary (Chicago: Moody Press, 2001), 221.
One of our main core values here at Calvary La Mesa is “God’s glory”.
Everything we do is directed toward the effort of glorifying and worshipping God
Wherever man may stand, whatever he may do, to whatever he may apply his hand, in agriculture, in commerce, and in industry, or his mind, in the world of art, and science, he is, in whatever it may be, constantly standing before the face of his God. He is employed in the service of his God, he has strictly to obey his God, and above all, he has to aim at the glory of his God.
~ Abraham Kuyper
And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
One mark of being a true worshipper is our love for God
This sets us apart from a world that hates Him
No one is truly seeking God - what they are looking for is a way to get the benefits of God without including Him
Glory in Christ Jesus
Because we have been saved by Him we joyfully exult is what Christ has done for us.
Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”
But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.
We know that we have accomplished none of our salvation (indeed no good thing) on our own and can only point to the One who has
But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me.
Put no confidence in the flesh
We often attempt to do this reverting back to our preconversion state
God will allow us to follow self-help, self-improvement programs until we have tried them all, until we finally come to the honest confession, ‘I can't do it. I can't be righteous in my own strength!’ It is then, when we admit our utter powerlessness, that we find hope. For it is then when the Lord intervenes to do a work that we could not do for ourselves. ~ Pastor Chuck Smith
Paul answers those who think their able to maintain their own salvation by their own actions
You who boast in the law dishonor God by breaking the law.
Romans 2:
A mark of a true Christian is that they do not boast in their own flesh but instead boast only in Christ.
Conclusion
Conclusion